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Six Companies Control 90% of US Media

Your media diet is less varied than you might think

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by Mary Noble

Senior Editor t

Image: Business Insider

"Ninety percent" of what we see, hear, and read is controlled by six companies, according to an infographic posted by Business Insider. This is our list of the swathe of media owned by the "big six":
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Should we be concerned that a lot of the media is owned by just a few companies?

Comments (view in Forum)

  • CanadianIndy
    !
    You're right about the internet...for now. SOPA and PIPA, and now CISPA, were just the beginning. Now, New York I believe it was, wants to prosecute 'trolls'? Your rights are quickly diminishing...including freedom of the internet and through that, freedom of speech and expression.
  • o
    BrainSmashR
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    Rights and freedoms are not synonymous. I have the freedom to express my opinion, but Politix owns this sight and can add, remove, or delete content as they see fit. That is in no way an infraction of my rights. I have the freedom to go elsewhere if I don't like it...you do too
  • CanadianIndy
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    Don't hate me for saying this, as most do, but in all seriousness, I'd have to say that either The Young Turks (which is YouTube or web only) or The Daily Show with Jon Stewart would be non-partisan. TYT because well, they've nothing to gain from switching to partisan as they barely need money and don't want influence. And Stewart because his first and foremost priority is to comedy. Sure, his political views may slant some of his jokes...but it's less partisan than Faux News.
    Oh. And I just gotta say. Bill Maher CAN be pretty damn good as well. I'd be the first to admit that it isn't always the case, but it does happen. And though he's more left leaning, his panels routinely rotate through Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Occupiers, Teabaggers and even people who aren't into politics. Anyone from past and present elected officials to sous chefs have graced his panel, and it always stays lively.
    Oh. And he doesn't shout down his guests. Ever. Period. Even if he doesn't like them, he hears them out. Unlike some others we could mention.
  • o
    BrainSmashR
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    Do you laugh at people when they tell you Limbaugh is a reliable news source? Well you just said it about a comedian... They're entertainers, not reporters, and it's a shame you can't tell the difference.
  • CanadianIndy
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    To quote an upcoming series from HBO (starring Jeff Daniels and written by Aaron Sorkin...you should really check it out!) called 'The Newsroom':
    Senior executive of the featured show 'News Night'- "News corporations influence and control the national conversation."
    Owner of the entire news corporation - "I know. That's why I bought one."

    It's beginning to really look more and more like the late, great George Carlin was right when he said: "You don't actually have 'free will' or a choice. Elections, types of food, what you see on tv, movies, in books, etc, are merely an ILLUSION of choice."

    You no longer really have a choice what to hear, especially when it comes to the so-called 'news.' I mean, sure, want a right-wing fanatical view of events with more than a hint of fallacy? Fox News is just for you. Want absolutely fake news? Try The Onion. But really, it's all controlled. Fox is to the right. MSNBC is heading that way. CNN has just become so redundantly useless that people have stopped watching. ABC, CBS and the other smaller channels are merely white noise compared to the big ones. Ironically, the best way to get the news these days it to watch a comedy show such as The Daily Show, The Colbert Report or Real Time! Or even The View!*gag*

    What the corporations have done has got to be admired. Not with love like you would a doctor who saves lives, but more like one would have to stand in awe of Adolf Hitler. He did horrible, dreadful things...but goddamn, he did it efficiently.
    The corporations have done sort of the same thing. They've taken news and entertainment, and made them so similar that it has become difficult to tell them apart. No longer do most people watch supremely well balanced shows such as 60 Minutes or have trustable anchors who's careers are made by how newsworthy their stories are (Dan Rather, Walter Cronkite, Peter Jennings, etc). No longer do we have moral or educational television programs. Hell, History Television doesn't even stick to it's name any more! No, now we have visual diarrhoea such as Jersey Shore, Big Brother, even Survivor or American Idol. They've filled the airwaves with news channels that don't broadcast news and shows that just melt your brain.
    Pardon my French, but whoever started that ball rolling was fucking brilliant.
  • BigD1391
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    "Real Time" big ups bro! Maher was inspired by Carlin (if you go back and watch them together). Maher and Carlin thats what's up man. and PBS documentaries.
  • CanadianIndy
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    Yea man! Especially when they teamed up on Maher's old show "Politically Incorrect." The one he got fired from for rightly suggesting that America might have deserved 9/11 from a historical perspective.
  • Janniel
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    Yes, the 1% are pretty much in charge of all facets of our lives. Welcome to the oligarchy. Instead of calling out names at one another *lib*, *con* , and etc., we should wake up to the fact that we have very little power over what goes on in this country.
  • Janniel
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    Dear BrainSmash. I don't think that because other nations have it worse than mine is any sort of excuse for excusing the way our news-delivery is controlled by corporations. I'm sure that if you are honest with yourself, you don't either.
  • Bobolinsky
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    And of those, the only one that is accused of evil right-wing wickedness is FOX.
    .
    The bias is there, but more pronounced than most imagine because the gap between FOX and the others is wider than the gap between Fox and America's actual center..
    .
    This illusion is possible because the other four? Liberal bias.
    .
    No wonder Fox outdoes all the others combined. FOX has half of America. The rest are fighting for everyone else.
    .
    See how that works Politix.topix.com ( politico.com ).
  • CanadianIndy
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    Fox is merely picked on because it's so hypocritical in it's, well let's be frank, blatant partisan bias. Not to mention all the things it's talking heads spout out that turn out to be either false, fabricated or fudged.

    But sure. Let's be fair. Fox is obviously right-wing. Far-right, even. But they're not alone. MSNBC is slowly heading in the same direction. The BBC have always been biased seeing as they're a crown corporation, as is the CBC. Pretty soon, if CNN want's to stay alive as a "news network," and I use that term extremely loosely, it'll have to bend to the new rules of television.

    I disagree as well that Fox has half of America. They don't. What they do have, however, is the larger portion of /vocal/ Americans.
    Not to mention the fact that Fox has become an entertainment source, and not a news source.

    You want both sides equally? Well, it's a pretty simple solution: Watch equal amounts of Fox News and (more)left-wing shows such as The Daily Show, or The Young Turks or Real Time, or an international news source to get an outside view (BBC, CBC, whatever that Arabic network is that used to broadcast Bin Laden).

    There's no sense in griping about a situation if there's a solution to it. You just have to think outside the proverbial box a little bit.
  • Bobolinsky
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    CanadianIndy. I respectfully stand by my point.
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    http://www.gallup.com/poll/120857/conservativ...
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    http://www.gallup.com/poll/141032/2010-conser...
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    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/713...
    .
    Roughly speaking, Cable News viewership reflects these numbers. Moderates includes the politically apathetic and they watch CNN. I never understood why CNN's target demographic has always been those that don't watch the news except during disasters etc. Check the viewership during a hurricane, or after an earthquake for proof.
    .
    Liberals don't have an interest in letting the true political disposition in America from becoming clear. They have more trouble convincing people of their ideas if they have to defend them on a level playing field.
    .
    Want proof? Why did Liberals start calling themselves Progressive again after their embarrassment in 1994? Because they knew the jig was up. Too many people figured them out. Solution? don't change your goals. Change your name.
    .
    What about the other side? Why do Conservatives stick with that label? Because under all the stereotypes/name-calling and lies, Conservatives don't have to hide their intentions.
    .
    A Conservative who knows what the hell it means know that the correct, good and proper stance with regards to race is nothing more than "Equal Protection Under the Law", period. No race based laws need. Make the law right, then police the enforcement. We know this and we don't have to hide it. If you can read into my above statement that I want to reenslave the blacks or oppress women, then you are irrational. Not you Indy :) speaking in generalities.
    .
    If you can see MLK in that statement, then welcome to the Truth.
    .
    Plenty of room over here without the lies. And even pricks like me are welcome.
  • u
    DrMoonshine
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    That remark was quite incompetent. You really should know who Rupert Murdoch is. If the liberals actually controlled the media. Ron Paul would have gotten a lot more attention by mainstream media than the other republican candidates like Perry and Santorum. Regardless of which side you're on, those two were complete nutjobs. Newt too.
  • u
    CommonSense
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    Trust-bust the media!
    The ownership of information should not be this concentrated.
    We need a variety of views not just what the elites want us to hear.
  • leon104
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    yes because with such media, which controls and directs the way news is delivered and influences the way the general citizens and the government interacts and reacts